United Utilities welcomes £975m investment boost to power North West growth

United Utilities today welcomes the decision by Ofwat to provisionally approve £975 million of new investment, supporting the North West's growing economy and creating 4,000 additional jobs across the supply chain.

The draft decision follows the company's submission to Ofwat in April for a range of schemes requiring additional investment.

The proposals will enhance resilience across the company’s network and provide additional water and wastewater capacity to support economic growth enabling the Government's housing, digital infrastructure and climate policy ambitions.

This new investment and jobs are in addition to the £13 billion of infrastructure upgrades already planned by United Utilities by 2030, supporting over 30,000 jobs across the North West.

The draft decision from Ofwat is subject to a final determination in December.

It represents an important step in Ofwat's new "re-opener" process, which allows water companies to seek approval for additional investment during the five-year regulatory period where new needs can be demonstrated.

Louise Beardmore, Chief Executive Officer of United Utilities, said: “It is great to see this in-period regulatory mechanism working well, providing the opportunity to deliver the additional infrastructure needed to support the rapid economic growth we are seeing across the region, enabling businesses to grow, houses to be built and additional high-quality jobs to be created, providing great opportunities for employment for people here in the North West."